A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to update! This is a filler chapter that started off strong, but I quickly lost interest. It is so far probably my least favorite chapter to write. I think I have been too focused on what is to come! A few of you have asked me if I would do a Lucian Christmas and I promise it will be coming soon! Time will go by a little bit faster in the chapters coming, so be aware of that. Hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you all! I promise to update sooner next chapter :)

Chapter 39

The next morning, Ian woke up to a softly snoring Lucy. He smiled to himself as he thought about waking up to her everyday. Slowly he rolled over to look at the clock and found that it was a little after 10 am. He sat up and gently got out of bed, cautious not to wake up his sleeping girlfriend.

Ian showered and got around for the day and decided to brew some coffee, knowing Lucy would want to wake up to some. Once it was ready he poured some into two mugs and brought them to the bedroom. He settled one of the mugs on the bedside table closest to Lucy and sat his on the table closest to his side of the bed. He slid into bed, wrapping his arms around Lucy's waist and resting his chin on her shoulder from behind.

"Good morning, beautiful" he said softly. "I brought you some coffee."

He nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck as she began to stir. She didn't move much, but rolled over slowly with a grimace on her face. Caught off guard, Ian thought he caused it and moved away a bit.

"I don't feel good" Lucy croaked. "I feel really nauseous right now."

Relieved her face wasn't from him, Ian moved closer and pressed a cool hand to her forehead in concern.

"Babe, you are burning up! Let me get the thermometer" he said as he ran to the bathroom.

Ian returned carrying the temporal thermometer and swiped it across Lucy's forehead.

"Yeah, you are definitely sick. Your temperature is 102.5" Ian said, concerned. He squatted down next to her and smoothed her hair away from her face. "Did this just come on? Or did you feel like this all night?"

"Just now. I felt fine yesterday and I slept sound through the night. I really hope I didn't come down with the flu..." she said groaning.

"Well it is going around...but how about I let you sleep some more. Maybe if you get some more sleep you will feel better. I'm going to get you some ibuprofen to get rid of your fever though. I'll be back in a second" Ian said, kissing her forehead as he left the room.

A few minutes later, Ian returned with the pills and a glass of water. He handed them to Lucy and perched on the side of the bed next to her. She sat up slowly and closed her eyes, clutching the sheet to cover her chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"Yeah, I'm just really dizzy and feel as if I could throw up" she said after choking down the pills.

"Lie back down. Should I bring the trashcan to the side of the bed?" Ian asked cautiously.

"I think I will be alright. I'm going to just sleep anyway" Lucy answered.

"Okay, well here," Ian said as he brought the unused t-shirt on the dresser to her, "you can put this on if you'd like. Don't feel like you have to though" he said smirking.

A small smile appeared on her face as she pulled Ian's t-shirt over her head. "Well I'm sure on any other day you would prefer me to be naked, but I am far from sexy when I am sick" she said lying down slowly into her previous position.

"You are sexy to me no matter what. And although you look amazing with nothing on, seeing you in my t-shirt is a turn on as well" Ian said as he tucked her in. "Now sleep. I'll check on you in an hour."

After kissing her gently on the temple, Ian closed the door over and went to the living room. He picked up the newspaper and began reading it as he sipped on his coffee. After finishing the newspaper, Ian talked to his sister Sarah on the phone briefly and made plans to get lunch the following Saturday.

Once he was off the phone he checked the time and found that it was a little over an hour since he last checked on Lucy. He walked to the bedroom door and quietly opened it to find her sleeping soundly. He quietly made his way to the side of the bed and placed his hand to her forehead. Her fever had subsided, making Ian sigh in relief.

Lucy began to stir from Ian's touch. Her eyes fluttered open and focused on him.

"Hey" he said softly as he pushed her hair back. "How are you feeling?"

"Pretty much the same" she said quietly. She reached up and touched Ian's cheek. "Thank you so much for taking care of me. I love you."

Ian bent down and kissed her gently. "I love you too, and I love taking care of you. But I think you should try eating. It is almost 1 in the afternoon. I can make you whatever you want."

"But I'm not hungry..." Lucy pouted. "Can't I just sleep?"

"You can sleep, but you need to eat, Luce. Do you want chicken noodle soup? I'll make you some if you want it."

"I guess...but I might not eat very much" she said reluctantly.

Ian kissed her on the forehead and smiled. "Anything is better than nothing! I am going to run to Ralphs to get some chicken...do you need anything?" he asked.

Suddenly Lucy looked to have remembered something. "Crap! I need to feed Jack!" she said as she sat up slowly.

"Hey, it's fine. I'll go feed him. I'll just take your keys with me" Ian said.

"Are you sure? I can go..." Lucy said.

"No. Rest. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you" Ian said as he left the bedroom.

About an hour after he left, Lucy heard Ian arrive back home. She was confused by the sound that seemed to be coming closer to the door. Just then, the door opened to reveal Ian smiling and a scampering Jack at his feet.

Lucy sat up slowly beaming at Ian. "You brought Jack here?" she asked, shocked and excited.

"I did. I figured you could be here for a little while so I thought I would bring him to you. Plus he might make you feel better faster" Ian said as he sat on the edge of the bed. "Are you feeling any better?"

"Well my stomach isn't but I am so happy that you are home, and that you brought my baby with you! I can't thank you enough, Ian. I swear I don't deserve someone as sweet as you..." Lucy said peering into his blue eyes.

Ian wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple. "You deserve more than what I can ever give you, Luce. But I am going to get that soup going so you can try to eat. I'll bring it in soon."

Lucy watched him walk out of the bedroom, Jack jumping excitedly at his heels. A smile crossed her face to see him interact so well with Jack. Chris never once seemed to be that interested in her dog, but only his. She shook the thoughts from her mind and laid back against the pillows. Reaching for the remote, she turned the TV on and watched mindlessly.

Just as Lucy was beginning to doze off again, Ian returned to the bedroom carrying a small bowl of chicken noodle soup and some bread. He placed it on the bedside table and kissed her forehead waking her.

"Hi, I brought you some soup" he said handing it to her. "Just eat what you can."

He crawled in to the bed next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Lucy lifted the spoon to her lips and blew on it before putting it in her mouth. She swallowed and looked to Ian smiling.

"This is really good, baby. Thank you for making it for me" she said as she kissed his cheek.

"I'm glad you like it. I just want you to feel better. I hate seeing you sick" Ian said sympathetically.

"Well you are great at taking care of me. I'm so thankful I have you. Seriously, I don't know what I did to deserve you in my life" Lucy said incredulously.

"Luce, you better get used to it. Because if you are going to be with me, you better get used to me taking care of you when you are sick and spoiling you any chance I get. Because if I could give you the world, I would, and that still wouldn't be enough" Ian said sweetly.

Lucy shook her head in astonishment. "I love you."

Ian kissed her temple. "I love you, too. Now get some rest. I am going to go for a run while you sleep" he said as he took the empty soup bowl from her hands. "I'll have my phone on me if you need anything" he said.

Ian returned about an hour later and kicked off his shoes in the doorway. He was sweaty and in need of a shower, but decided to check on Lucy first. He entered the bedroom and found the spot where Lucy previously was, empty. He furrowed his brow, suddenly worried as to where she was. Noticing the bathroom door was shut he knocked on it softly.

"Luce? Are you in there?" he asked.

He heard her cough and flush the toilet. "Yeah, you can come in" she said, her voice sounding scratchy.

Carefully he opened the door to find Lucy sitting on the floor, next to the toilet, with her head in her hands. Ian rushed to her side.

"Oh my God, Luce, did you get sick? You could have called and I would have come home sooner" he said stroking her hair away from her face.

"I was sleeping and I woke up feeling really sick. I feel a lot better after throwing up actually" she said looking at him.

Ian enveloped Lucy into a hug then lifted her, carrying her to the bed. He kissed her gently before getting into the shower. Once he was out, he ate some of the leftover soup and retreated to the bedroom to accompany his sick girlfriend.

Lucy seemed to be feeling better than she had all day. She was sitting up in bed watching "How I Met Your Mother" reruns. Ian stripped down to his boxer briefs and climbed in next to Lucy. She cuddled into his side and kissed him briefly before being overcome by sleep. Ian continued to watch the show on TV until he too fell asleep.

The next morning Lucy seemed to feel much better. She was up before Ian and even was able to eat toast and keep it down. After showering, she was walking back into Ian's bedroom to find some clothes to wear when he finally decided to wake up. Not noticing that he was awake, Lucy pulled one of Ian's t-shirts from his drawer and dropped the towel from around her body to slip it on.

"Damn. I could get used to this view every morning" Ian said startling Lucy.

She clutched the t-shirt to her chest as she turned around quickly to find Ian lying on his back with his arms behind his head, with his signature boyish grin across his face.

"You scared me half to death! I didn't know you were awake!" she exclaimed. She pulled the oversized t-shirt over her head and joined him on the bed.

Leaning over, Ian kissed her gently before speaking. "Well I heard the bathroom door open and I wanted to make sure you were okay...but then I saw you standing naked in front of me..." he trailed off as he ran his hand along her jaw.

Lucy began giggling, pulling Ian from the moment slightly.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Nothing. It's just...you" Lucy said as she began giggling again.

"What did I do?" he asked feigning hurt.

"You are just adorable. And I love that I do this to you" she said looking down at his growing bulge under the sheets. "Oh, and to answer your question I do feel better than yesterday. Not quite myself though."

Laughing at Lucy's cuteness, Ian pulled her towards him and began kissing her all over her face, neck and shoulders.

Later that night, Lucy and Ian were lounging on the couch together in their pajamas. Lucy was munching on crackers while they talked aimlessly. Once there was a pause in their conversation Lucy looked up at Ian and changed the subject.

"So what are we going to tell people...you know, about us? Are we dating or...?" Lucy asked awkwardly.

Ian pulled Lucy in closer. "We can tell people whatever you want. I would prefer to keep it private for a little while, but that is up to you."

"I want to do whatever you are comfortable with" Lucy said looking into his deep blue eyes.

Ian smiled and cradled her face in his hands. "How about we have fun with it? Let's keep people guessing. We don't say we are dating, but we don't say we're not. It could be fun" he said smiling.

"Haven't we been doing that though? For I don't know, like the last 3 years?" Lucy said laughing.

"We have. But this time we are together. Maybe at least until we wrap this season. I know I don't want to hurt Sophia by rubbing you in her face, but I also don't want Chris to do something that hurts you. This way we're sort of protecting both of our asses."

Lucy nodded in agreement. "Okay, you have a point. Starting tomorrow, let the games begin!"